NetApp wouldn't comment on this, saying it was inhibited by "quiet period" restrictions ahead of an earnings report announcement.

El Reg was told by sources familiar with the matter that some 512 people would be going worldwide – including Nick Howell, known on Twitter and on his blog as Datacenter Dude – which is much less than the up-to-30 per cent numbers we had heard a week or two ago.

Last month NetApp was reported to be preparing redundancies and issued a comment saying: "Our focus is on operationalising our strategy to take full advantage of the opportunity in front of us."

"Operationalising our strategy" gets us wondering whether Gwyneth Paltrow is actually NetApp's HR boss, with the company reportedly in the process of "consciously uncoupling" from its employees. ®